Cutter attachment for rotary snow plow



March 19, 1963 R. o. VARNUM 3,081,565

CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOR ROTARY snow PLOW Filed June 12. 1959 sSheets-Sheet 1 mbhard 0. l/amum 1N VEN TOR.

M2262. BY W Marsh 19, 1963 R. o. VARNUM 3,

CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOR ROTARY SNOW PLOW Filed June 12. 1959 3Sheets-Sheet 2 mm hm m R m. E m m mm mm u m NM Gm mm m m 95 mm 0 J? y laa Q. mm 0 f 9. E m A m H NK .IIIII I ll-lllll .l

Mai-ch 19, 1963 R. o. VARNUM 3,081,565

CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOR ROTARY SNOW PLOW Filed June 12. 1959 3Sheets-Sheet 3 m w i J N0) LO 6 0 O w- N a in Q a.

% Richard 0. Vamum ZNVENTOR.

Unite fifihlfihh Patented Mar. 19, 1963 fire 3,081,565 CUTTER ATTACHMENTFUR RU'EARY SNOW PILQW Richard G. Varnum, PO. Box 22%, Fort Klnmath,Greg.

Filed June 12, 1959, Ser. No. M l/ iii (Ilairns. (Cl. 37-43) Thisinvention comprises a novel and useful cutter attachment for rotary snowplows and more particularly relates to an accessory adapted to bemounted upon and carried by a conventional rotary snow plow at the frontthereof in order to increase the efficiency of operation of the latter.

Conventional snow plows adapted to be mounted upon the front of tractorvehicles, such as trucks and the like and especially plows of the typehaving horizontally disposed auger or conveyor screws power driven andextending transversely of the tractor vehicle are limited in theiroperation as to the height of a bank or drift of snow with which theymay be used for clearing a roadway therethrough. Further, when the massof snow being removed has hardened into ice, the conventional type ofsnow plow is frequently stalled or at best is rendered very inefiicientin its operation under such conditions.

It is the primary purpose of this invention to provide a cutterattachment which may be applied to such conventional plows and shall beextremely effective for overcoming the above-mentioned conditions.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment which isreadily applicable to conventional snow plows and which will enable thelatter to cut through bank and drifts or snow or ice of a greater heightthan that heretofore possible with such conventional plows.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment forconventional snow plows which will enable the latter to more easily maketurns in drifts and banks without imposing an excessive strain laterallyupon the snow plow and its associated structure and mechanism.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an attachment inacordance with any of the foregoing objects which will facilitate thebreaking up and/or the feeding of the snow or ice from the drift or bankinto the snow removal mechanism of the conventional snow plow.

An additional important object of the invention is to provide anattachment in accordance with the preceding objects which will enable aconventional snow plow to effectively remove a bank or drift of snow orice which is higher than and/or harder than that customarily capable ofremoval by the conventional snow plow.

Still another important object of the invention is to provide anattachment which may be mounted upon and driven by the conventional snowplow for thereby increasing the effectiveness of operation of thelatter.

A still further important object of the invention is to provide anattachment in accordance with the foregoing objects which will effectthe cutting and removal of snow in advance of and along a path ofgreater width than that of the snow plow itself; which may effect itscutting operation even while the snow plow is stationary; and willoperate to provide a clearance both forwardly and laterally of the frontend of the conventional snow plow to facilitate turning of the snow plowand its tractor vehicle and will eliminate or reduce lateral thrust andstrains imposed upon the snow plow during such turning movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide an attachment inaccordance with any of the foregoing objects wherein the attachmentdrive means by which the cutting means of the attachment is operateditself constitutes an additional cutting element for increasing thelateral width of the cut of the attachment.

And a final object of the invention to be specifically enumerated hereinresides in the provision of attachment in accordance with the foregoingobjects which shall be capable of easy and quick mounting of theattachment upon a conventional snow plow or its removal therefromthereby enabling a conventional snow plow to be selec tively adapted tosatisfactorily handle the removal of snow under conditions for which theconventional snow plow was heretofore unsatisfactory in its operationand capacity.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a front portion of a tractor vehicleshowing a conventional rotary snow plow mounted thereon and showing thecutter attachment of the present invention operatively applied to dcarried by the tractor vehicle and the snow plow, the attachment beingshown in its position for cutting the face of a drift or snow bank of amaximum height;

FIGURE 2 is a detail view in horizontal section through the frontportion of the arrangement of FIGURE 1 and showing the attachment of thepresent invention applied to and mounted upon the front portion of thecarriage for supporting framework of a conventional rotary snow plow;

FIGURE 3 is a view in vertical section through the support frame of thisattachment and showing the mounting of one of the plurality of endlesschains forming a part of the cutting means of the attachment; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view taken in vertical transverse sectionthrough the attachment of FIGURE 1 and showing in full lines thevertical positioning of the attachment for effecting a maximum verticalcut of a snow bank or drift; and showing in dotted lines successiveforwardly tilted positions of the attachment for removing snow atvarying distances in advance of the conventional rotary snow plow toprovide a clearance for the latter in a snow bank or drift.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral 16 designates generally theforward portion of a tractor vehicle such as a truck or the like andupon which there is mounted a conventional rotary snow plow 12, whilethe cutter attachment of this invention designated generally by thenumeral 14 is shown supported by and mounted in advance of the snow plow12.

It will be appreciated that the cutter attachment of this invention iscapable for use with a variety of rotary snow plows and is especiallyuseful for the type of snow plow as illustrated in FIGURE 1. In therotary snow plow of FIGURE 1 there is shown a plurality of horizontallyextending conveyor or auger screws 16 which are journalled in side walls18 of the carriage or supporting framework 2d of the rotary snow plow,it being understood that the latter is secured to the front end of thetractor vehicle in any suitable manner. It will also be understood thatthe conveyor screws 16 are power operated from the power plant of thetractor vehicle or in any other suitable manner as desired. Inoperation, the conventional snow plow is moved forward by the tractorvehicle into engagement with the base of a drift or bank of snow and therotating conveyor 16 will then remove the snow in a conventional mannerwhich in itself forms no part of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, the attachment 1 is removablysecured to, supported by and is driven from the snow plow assembly 12 ina manner to be now described. The lowermost of the conveyor screws 16 ofthe snow plow assembly 12 has an axle or shaft 22 which is journalled inthe side walls 13 of the carriage 2i and which extends through the sidewalls as will be readily apparent from FIGURES l and 2. A pair offorwardly extending bars or support arms are pivotally mounted upon theprojecting ends of the shaft 22 for a tilting movement about thehorizontal axis of the shaft, these bars being apertured to receive theends of the shaft therethrough and being retained as by a bracket means26 to the side walls 18 of the carriage 2" as by fastening bolts 28.Further fastening bolts 3% extend through the support arms 24, throughspacer members 32 and through the side walls 18 whereby the arms 24 aresecured rigidly in position in a horizontal disposition at the loweredges of the side Wall 18 in the position shown in FIGURE 1 and inFIGURE 4.

The projecting ends of the shaft 22 are provided with driving cogs 34over which are entrained sprocket chains 36 provided with cutting teeth38 thereon. It will be observed that these chains are disposed outwardlyof the side walls 18 and of the support frame 14 so that duringoperation of the chains their cutting teeth will serve to increase the.ateral width of the space cleared by the attachment l4 and the rotarysnow plow 12, thus facilitating the maneuvering or turning of the snowplow in drifts or banks by reducing the lateral pressure of the snowthereagainst.

It will now be understood that the sprocket chain 36 constitutes a partof the driving means which derives its power from the shaft 22 of therotary plow assembly 12 and which in turn drives the cutting meanscarried by the support frame of the attachment 14, and which is to benow described.

The support frame of the cutter attachment 14 consists of a plurality ofparallel support members '49 which are rigidly connected together as bycross rods 42 as by means of welding or the like as at 44, see FIGURE 4.Secured to the lower ends of the members 48 are hanger brackets 46fastened to the support members as by bolts 48, see FIGURE 3, andbetween which is received the driven sprockets carried by a shaft 52which is journalled in the hangers. It will thus be observed that theshaft shaft 52 is disposed at the lowermost portion of the support frameof this attachment and carries thereon driving sprockets for a purposeto be subsequently apparent. The opposite ends of the shaft 52 projectoutwardly beyond the support frame of the attachment and are providedwith sprockets 54 thereon over which the previously mentioned sprocketchain 36 is entrained. Thus, the sprocket chain 36 serves to transmitpower from the rotary snow plow 12 to the shaft 52 of the cutterattachment.

At the upper end of each of the members 4d of the support frame of theattachment there are provided upwardly extending pairs of hangers orbrackets 56, see in particular FIGURES 3 and 4, which are provided withelongated slots 58 through which extend fastening bolts 66 by whichthese brackets are vertically adjustable upon the upper ends of themembers 4%. Disposed between each of the pairs of brackets 56 carried byeach of the members 4t] is an idler sprocket gear 62 which is disposedin vertical alignment with the driving sprockets previously mentionedand carried by the shaft 52. An endless chain 64 is entrained over eachof the sprockets 62 and sprockets 5d at the other end of the supportframe, these chains each embracing one of the members 49 and thusencircling the entire support frame of the attachment. The adjustment ofthe bracket 56 upon the members 40 by the bolts and slots previouslymentioned serves to enable proper tensioning of the endless chains 64.

'Fixedly secured to the endless chains 64 are a plurality of cross bars66 which are in the form of angle members having mounting flanges 68 bywhich they are secured to the chains and perpendicular laterallyoutwardly extending flanges 7t Detachably secured to the flanges 7 t),

4 see also FIGURE 2, are a plurality of cutter elements 72 in the formof teeth or blades which are removably secured as by fasteners 74 to theflanges 7d.

The arrangement is such that when power is supplied to the shaft 52, theendless chain 64 with their cross bars and cutter elements will becaused to revolve continuously and as the devices move forwardly intothe face of a bank or drift, the cross bars and their cutter elementswill cut and remove the snow or ice, move the same downwardly along thesupport frame from which it will be picked up by the snow plow 12following the attachment.

As so far described it will be understood that the support frame of theattachment 14 is supported and mounted at its lower end and by means ofthe shaft 52 upon the forwardly projecting end of the bars 24. In amanner to be now described, this mounting also constitutes a pivotalsupport for the attachment whereby the same may be tilted about ahorizontal axis of the shaft 52 between a vertical position shown inFIGURE 1 and in full lines in FIGURE 4 to successively inclinedforwardly extending position shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 4 andfinally into a lowered horizontal position shown in FIG- URE 4.

Actuating mechanism is secured to the upper end of the support frame ofthe attachment and to the tractor vehicle it to effect by poweroperation a controlled adjustable tilting of the attachment about thehorizontal axis of the shaft 52. This actuating means comprises a fluidpressure actuated cylinder piston unit designated generally by thenumeral 86 and which is pivoted as at 82 at its mid-portion to a supportbracket structure 84 carried by the front end of the tractor vehicle.Fluid pressure is supplied from any suitable source, not shown, as bythe conduits S6 to the opposite ends of the unit 84 to effect operationof the piston therein, not shown, which in turn through the piston rod88 imparts rectilinear reciprocation to the support fork mountedthereon. The ends of the fork are pivoted as by the pins 92 to thehanger brackets 56 at the upper ends of the support frame and these pinsmay also function as the shafts about which the sprocket gears 62 aremounted.

The arrangement is such that upon actuation of the fluid pressure unit8t), the fork 92 may be moved inwardly or outwardly of the unit toselectively position the support frame of the attachment in its verticalposition as shown in FIGURES 1 and 4 in full lines, which positioneffects the maximum vertical position of the cutting means. In thisposition, the cutting elements of the attachment extend vertically aconsiderable distance above the top of the rotary plow l2 and thus areeffective to cut and remove the face of a snow drift or bank of agreater vertical height than that capable of being removed by theconventional snow plow 12.

However, when it is desired to provide a clearance in front of the snowplow, as for example to facilitate turning of the latter, the supportframe of the snow plow may be progressively tilted forward as shown indotted lines in FIGURE 4 by proper manipulation of the fluid pressureactuating means 8%. When tilted forward it is evident that the cuttingelements will effect a penetration of the face of the snow bank or driftfor a considerable distance in advance to the rotary snow plow, and thesnow so cut will be removed by the cross bars and cutting elementsrearwardly and beneath the attachment and into the conveyor screw 16 ofthe snow plow for discharge therefrom. Thus the device may bemanipulated to effect the removal of snow to provide a clearance spacein front of the conventional snow plow. At the same time, as previouslymentioned, the driving chains 36 of the driving means of the attachmentwill also cut and remove snow to the sides thereof and thus provide awidened clearance in advance of the snow plow. In this manner aconventional snow plow may be adapted to successively handle the removalof snow of a greater depth and of a greater hardness than is possibleheretofore with the conventional snow plow being unaided in thisoperation; and will enable to provide a clearance in front of andlaterally enlarged with respect to the snow plow to facilitate turningof the plow while in a snow bank or drift and without imposing excessivelateral strains by the bank or drift against the sides of the snow plowand its structure. It will be particularly observed that in thisinvention the shaft 52 serves both as a means to tiltably and pivotallysupport the attachment and also to apply power thereto; the sprocketchains 36 comprise a driving means which both supplies power to theattachment and also serves as auxiliary cutting elements to enlarge thecut made by the attachment; and the pivotal connection of the supportframe of the attachment at 92 to the fork 9t of the actuating meansserves both to provide axles or journals for the upper idler sprocket 62amd also for a connection to the support frame to effect pivotalmovement of the latter.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art it is not desired to limit theinvention to the exact construction and operation shown and described,and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may beresorted to, falling Within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination, a rotary snow plow having a power operated snowremover connected to and extending transversely across the front of atractor vehicle and a cutter attachment therefor, said cutter attachmentcomprising an elongated support frame, mounting means pivotallyconnecting said support frame at one end thereof to said snow remover inadvance of the latter and at the lower end thereof, said mounting meanssupporting said attachment for pivotal movement between horizontal andvertical positions about the pivotal connection of said mounting means,cutting means mounted upon said support frame, driving means connectedto said cutting means for operating the latter.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support frame and its cuttingmeans extend across the entire width of said snow remover.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support frame and cuttingmeans mounted therein are of sufficient length to project upwardly abovethe vertical extent of said snow remover when said attachment is in itsvertical position.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said driving means is connected toand is driven from said power operated snow remover.

5. The combination of claim 1 including a shaft journaled in saidmounting means and in said support frame, said shaft comprising saidmounting means and a part of said driving means.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said cutting means comprises apair of driving chains rotatably supported on said frame and a pluralityof cross bars disposed in side-by-side relation upon said driving chainsand each extending transversely of said support frame, cutting elementscarried by said cross bars, the assembly of cutting elements covering anarea which is at least equal to the width and height of said snowremover.

7. The combination of claim 1 including actuating means connected to theother end of said frame for controllably tilting the letter about saidmounting means.

8. The combination of claim 1 wherein said driving means includes ashaft comprising said mounting means and which is journaled and extendstransversely through said support frame, and a gearing assemblydrivingly engaging said shaft, said gearing assembly being disposedoutwardly of said frame and mounting means.

9. For use with a rotary snow plow having a power operated snow removerpositioned forwardly of and extending transversely across the front of atractor vehicle, a cutter attachment comprising; an elongated supportframe, mounting means pivotally connected to one end of said supportframe and adapted to mount said frame at the lower end and forwardly ofa snow remover in a position to extend transversely across the front ofthe latter, said mounting means supporting said attachment for tiltingbetween horizontal and vertical positions about a horizontal axisextending transversely of the line of travel of said attachment, cuttingmeans on said attachment, driving means for said cutting mean-s, saiddriving means including a shaft journaled in and extending transverselythrough said frame and constituting a pivot for connecting said frame tosaid mounting means, said mounting means comprising a pair of supportmembers in which said shaft is journaled, said driving means including agearing assembly connected to said shaft and disposed upon the exteriorof said support members.

10. For use with a rotary snow plow having a power operated snow removerpositioned forwardly of and extending transversely across the front of atractor vehicle, a cutter attachment comprising; an elongated supportframe, mounting means pivotally connected to one end of said supportframe and adapted to mount said frame at the lower end and forwardly ofa snow remover in a position to extend transversely across the front ofthe latter, said mounting means supporting said attachment for tiltingbetween horizontal and vertical positions about a horizontal axisextending transversely of the line of travel of said attachment, cuttingmeans on said attachment, driving means for said cutting means, saidcutting means comprising a plurality of driving chains disposedlongitudinally of and rotatably mounted upon said fname, a plurality ofcross bars disposed in side-by-side relation and secured to andextending transversely across said driving chains, cutting elementsmounted upon said cross bars, actuating means connected to said frame atthe end of thereof which is remote from said mounting means forcontrollably tilting said frame about the latter, a pivotal connectionbetween said actuating means and said frame, said mounting meanscomprising a pair of support members in which said shaft is journaled,said driving means including a gearing assembly connected to said shaftand disposed upon the exterior of said support members, said pivotalconnection and said gearing assembly being disposed upon the exterior ofsaid frame and of said frame and support members respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,549,699 Wilson Aug. 11, 1925 2,024,551 Thornhill Dec. 17, 19352,075,580 Jeswine a Mar. 30, 1937 2,373,318 Lewin Apr. 10, 19452,689,720 Cartlidge Sept. 21, 1954 2,736,112 Boissonnault Feb. 28, 1956FOREIGN PATENTS 764,710 Germany Aug. 9, 1951

1. IN COMBINATION, A ROTARY SNOW PLOW HAVING A POWER OPERATED SNOWREMOVER CONNECTED TO AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY ACROSS THE FRONT OF ATRACTOR VEHICLE AND A CUTTER ATTACHMENT THEREFOR, SAID CUTTER ATTACHMENTCOMPRISING AN ELONGATED SUPPORT FRAME, MOUNTING MEANS PIVOTALLYCONNECTING SAID SUPPORT FRAME AT ONE END THEREOF TO SAID SNOW REMOVER INADVANCE OF THE LATTER AND AT THE LOWER END THEREOF, SAID MOUNTING MEANSSUPPORTING SAID ATTACHMENT FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT BETWEEN HORIZONTAL ANDVERTICAL POSITIONS ABOUT THE PIVOTAL CONNECTION OF SAID MOUNTING MEANS,CUTTING MEANS MOUNTED UPON SAID SUPPORT FRAME, DRIVING MEANS CONNECTEDTO SAID CUTTING MEANS FOR OPERATING THE LATTER.